William J. Bowser, Wire Fraud, Utah 2023

Utah Business Scammers Indicted After Nationwide Scheme to Defraud Investors

Salt Lake City, UT - In a shocking revelation, a federal grand jury in Salt Lake City returned an indictment charging seven defendants, including the founder and former President of Noah's Event Venue in South Jordan, Utah, with 18 counts of wire fraud.

According to court documents, from January 2015 through May 2019, William J. Bowser, 60, of Hendersonville, North Carolina; Christopher J. Ashby, 49, of Salt Lake County, Utah; Scott W. Beynon, 46, of Davis County, Utah; Jordan S. Nelson, 42, of Salt Lake County, Utah; Scott L. Rutherford, 51, of Utah County, Utah; John D. Hamrick, 64, of Franconia, New Hampshire, and the Vice President and Director of Edmund and Wheeler Inc., conspired together to engage in a nationwide scheme to defraud investors.

The victims, who were mostly retired and elderly individuals, were defrauded of more than $30,000,000 after being induced by the defendants to invest in Noah Event Centers. As alleged in the indictment, Noah Event Centers were, collectively, an unprofitable enterprise sustained only through infusions of new investor funds.

The defendants did not use investor funds as promised in their marketing materials, purchase agreements, and related representations. Instead, they misappropriated and diverted investor funds meant for the development and construction of new event centers to pay large commissions, Noah's operations, prior investors, construction costs of other event centers, and rents on previously sold Noah Event Centers.

Bowser, and his co-conspirators are charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and wire fraud. The defendants are scheduled for their initial court appearance on September 14, 2023, at 4:00 p.m. in courtroom 8.4 before a U.S. Magistrate Judge at the Orrin G. Hatch United States District Courthouse in downtown Salt Lake City.

U.S. Attorney Trina A. Higgins made the announcement. The case is being investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS). Assistant United States Attorneys Cy H. Castle, Stewart M. Young, Stephen P. Dent, and Peter Kuhn are prosecuting the case.

An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ut/pr/alleged-business-scammers-indicted-after-nationwide-scheme-defraud-investors-including